No. 16 Maryland men’s basketball moves past Wednesday’s stunner with 68-64 win over Penn State

Photo courtesy of Ian Cox/Maryland Terrapins

An in-conference road game in a building it had not won in since 2015, coming off a heartbreaking loss that stopped the most momentum the program has had in years – the recipe for a lackluster defeat was in place for Maryland men’s basketball.

But luckily for the fans of the team, these just are not the same old Terps. A special defensive effort and clutch baskets down the stretch gave the Terrapins (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten) a bounce-back 68-64 win over Penn State (15-15, 5-14), spoiling the Nittany Lions’ senior day along with their hopes of making the Big Ten Tournament.

“It was a brutal loss on Wednesday. With the atmosphere we had with the crowd – to lose the way we did, it was gut-wrenching,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “To me, [this] was a huge win because I knew emotionally we were a little bit drained.”

Senior forward Julian Reese and freshman big Derik Queen were dominant in an unfamiliar way. Despite neither guy achieving a double-double, which has felt automatic recently, the pair both notched career highs in steals, combining for 10 with 5 blocks. Queen had 23 points while Reese grabbed 15 rebounds.

Junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie responded nicely to a rough outing last time, finishing with 19 ticks and seven assists behind 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Fifth-year wing Selton Miguel had 17, leaving sophomore guard Rodney Rice as the only Crab Five member not to make it into double figures.

After his much-maligned three-point miss (on a night where he went 0-for-6 from three) that directly led to the Michigan State buzzer-beater Wednesday, Gillespie answered the bell early. He had the team’s first eight points, including back-to-back triples to open the game.

Miguel was the next Terp with the hot hand, logging seven in a row and helping Maryland build an 18-11 lead. However, Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades shifted his defense into a zone scheme that frustrated the Terps for the rest of the half.

Meanwhile, seniors Ace Baldwin Jr., Zach Hicks and D’Marco Dunn all got going for the Nittany Lions, delivering the team’s first lead with 7:30 left. Despite Queen coming alive for the Terps, Penn State took a 36-30 lead into the break.

Out of the locker room, the defense was the name of the game for Maryland. They forced eight Lion turnovers before the under-12 timeout, riding Miguel’s three-point shooting to get the lead back with 14:37 to go.

The game saw back-and-forth action from that point on, with no lead growing above six. Baldwin was scoreless in the second half until a pair of free throws woke him up, helping bring Penn State to within one with under two minutes to play.

Rice, calm and cool despite an uncharacteristic 1-for-12 shooting to that point, sank a timely midrange jumper on the baseline to secure the win for the Terps. He finished with just five points and as many assists, but was second on the team at plus-11.

“That just shows what type of guy [Rice] is, what type of teammate he is,” Gillespie said. “He was ready and he made the most important shot of the game.”

In perhaps unimaginable fashion for Maryland fans, the Terrapins have won four of five on the road. The win was their sixth in Quad 1, bringing them even on the year.

Maryland improves to 18-15 all-time against Penn State, now 4-2 in the last six. The Terps snapped a seven-game losing streak at Bryce Jordan Center, while the Nittany Lions have now lost nine of their last 11.

The Terrapins look ahead to a Wednesday night visit to the Crisler Center for another huge matchup against the 15th-ranked Michigan Wolverines (22-6, 14-3).